On Sun, 2 Nov 2025, Margaret Miller wrote:
No. I love KDE precisely because they're not falling for this
"apolitical" nonsense that only ever is used to benefit the far right
and push out marginalized people.
Hmmm...
With respect, I'd like to ask you to adjust how you assert stuff like
that.
You're not wrong, Margaret, in stating that there are many instances in
modern times, especially in the USA and parts of Western Europe (perhaps
elsewhere) that very partisan and political things are done in the name of
being "apolitical." However, someone else's improper use of our common
language shouldn't be a reason for us to redefine words and twist things.
That is, how you phrased your defense of the marginalized was itself
falling into a linguistic trap. I agree with "Slopsec" we all stay out of
it.
I believe "Slopsec's" articulation was the more accurate: We can and
should defend being apolitical in KDE and avoid it in ourselves when
dealing with unrelated subjects. And let us not try and redefine the word
apolitical or buy into other people's false definitions. Slopsec asked we
keep politics out of this venue and I agree, and defending those who need
defending as you propose isn't, in my view, political.
Word-hijacking has long been, unfortunately, "a thing" in humanity and
it's both insidious and corrosive and is intended, most times, to either
divide, or convince one of false narratives. A simple but obvious example
would be the likes of Nancy Pelosi (among many others) who try and call
themselves "left" just because they're not where current Republicans are,
when anyone of my generation would call them out as 1980's style
Republicans. It's an attempt to redefine the word for their own political
purposes and I say we not buy into it. Apolitical means NOT political. And
defending against bullying as you propose isn't a political act, it's an
act born of good morals.
In any event, ABSOLUTELY, Margaret, DEFEND those who need defending, like
the marginalized. Lets just try and not talk past one another, please.
I hope I haven't just whacked a hornet's nest!
Regards,
Richard
P.S. You can read MY basic political affiliations in my signature line as
it articulates the who and what _I_ pledge allegiance to. RT
--
Margaret "Mae" Miller (she/her)
Nov 2, 2025, 14:09 by [email protected]:
Hello everyone,
Something concerning that was brought to my attention compelled me to compose
my thoughts. For the sake of maintaining a healthy community with a diverse
array of people from different backgrounds, I would like to implore that you
please keep KDE Plasma apolitical. It should not be used as a platform for
character assassination or the badjacketing of people and organisations for
political views which may differ from your own. There could be about half a
dozen of reasons why KDE Plasma may have wished to abstain from interacting on
X/Twitter and each of them likely to be valid from a purely technical or
utilitarian prospective. Instead, an employee of KDE Plasma for promotion and
communication asserted their own politics and spoke on behalf of KDE Plasma as
a whole in a statement when addressing why KDE Plasma has stopped posting to X.
I don't think this is something that should be tolerated in our community, as
the politicisation of projects and hobbies only serves to sow division which
leads to ostracism and exclusion rather than inclusion. Hobbies should be
politically neutral as to remain inclusive for all people from different walks
of life. The founding ethos of the free and open source community ensured that
nobody was excluded or marginalised for their immutable traits or beliefs as
they did not matter or would've otherwise impacted a person's ability to
participate. These very founding principles are being threatened by those who
that assert their politics into the hobbies and projects where it has no
business being. The free and open source movement is political in nature, yes.
However, there should be absolutely no room for identity politics and culture
wars which distract from the very purpose of our hobby. Creating, maintaining
and iterating on software and public infrastructure that anyone may free
ly use for the betterment of humanity.
I've left my thoughts here in good faith as a user of KDE Plasma and welcome
any discussion or feedback.
Thank you all for your time and cheers for reading.
—Slopsec
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Richard Troy, Chief Scientist
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I pledge allegiance to We, The People, to mutual peace and harmony, and
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